Chapter 7 - Respect Authority

Following Romans 13:1-2 is really tough at times. It says, "Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished." As a young person it is hard to follow because let's face we knew it all then and didn't want anyone telling us what to do.

But as an adult when we realize we don't know everything, we do know enough to know that sometimes people in authority do things, or ask us to do things that we just can't agree with. Dungy doesa great job of describing a couple of those times in his life. How many of those times can you think of? The majority of the time, however, those in authority in the various arenas of our life know a little more about a given situation and therefore can make a more informed decision than we can.

As the father of a twenty year old daughter and nearly eighteen year old son, I had to chuckle at he comment by Dungy's daughter on page 70, "I just wish he could have made it until he was twenty, because when I was seventeen or eighteen, sometimes the things that you guys say to us didn't make sense. But about the time I turned twenty they started making a lot more sense." As I mentioned yesterday there are a lot of times that I have made harsh statements that don't even make sense to me when I look back, I just pray that as both my children age things will start to make more sense as gaps are filled in for them.

Chapter 6 - Fatherhood

I love Dungy's quote on page 55, "The Bible wasn't written for those who have it figured out, but instead it is God's word to those of us who are muddling through life." I really don't know what to write today because I feel like I am muddling through fatherhood. I know I was always present in my kids life and that I knew they were watching me. I am not sure I always matched what I said and did.

I guess the one thing that I was committed to was loving the mother of my children. I think that may be the greatest gift of a father is love their children's mother, 'til death do us part. In the end we all make mistakes in every area of life and thus when it comes to fatherhood I am so thankful for grace.

Chapter 5 - How to Treat a Woman

OK so it is probably time for you to get over the "head of the household" thing, because if that is the phrase you are holding onto you aren't ready to be that person. It doesn't take long in looking at the passage that a lot of women scorn in Ephesians 5 to learn that God was more concerned with men knowing how to treat a woman than a woman knowing how to treat a man. The sheer volumn holds much truth. In a very small section he speaks to wives and in a section four times the volumn he speaks to husbands. Basically if men would treat their wives the way God inspired Paul to describe their portion becomes quite easy.

The whole chapter of Ephesians 5 however is based on Christians submitting to one another. I know men who, by any standard I would use, are not even Christians that want to claim "head of the household" status and quote the Bible as if they know it. The key to the marriage relationship functioning in biblical terms is both partners (man & woman) being God followers.

That is why Paul so strongly encouraged us to not be unequally yoked which has nothing to do with race or nationality, but has everything to do with understanding who God is and what he wants for his children.

I love Dungy's challenge to read John 3:16 with your spouse in mind. I just reminded myself that "God loved Kimberley so much that He gave His son Jesus to die for her." I need to love her the same way!

Chapter 4 - Courage

Well we are four days into this journey. If you are reading along with us send me a note to let me know.

Today's chapter is about courage. I needed to go no farther than the opening quote from Mark Twain to be motivated to consider how life is going. Twain said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." How many things have you dreamed of doing and been convinced that you just shouldn't take the risk?

The word fear appears 326 times in the Bible and the word afraid appears 206 times. The majority of those times it is in the most often heard command in the scripture, "Do not be afraid." Philippians 1:20 says, "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." I have found that God's promise for courage is true that when I am weakest he becomes strongest and gives me the strength and courage to endure and move forward.

So what sails do you need to open on the seas of life? What would it take for you to do that?

Chapter 3 - Honesty and Stewardship

Quit tootin your own horn. Nobody likes a bragard or name dropper. My college baseball coach used to teach us that there was a fine line between confidence and conceit. Then when we would take the field he would often to tell us to walk the line. I loved Dungy's comparison of Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders. Wow what a contrast in personalities.

Matthew 23:12 tells us whoever humbles himself will be exalted, but whoever exalts himself will be humbled.

The big question that I see here is how do you walk the line? How do you balance the confidence in who you are and your abilities with the humility that God desires in your life? What are your thoguhts?

Chapter 2 - Honesty and Integrity

Yesterday we talked about our character. So much of our character is determined by our level of integrity. I am not sure who first coined the phrase, "Integrity is who you are when no one is looking." I first read it from Bill Hybels 20 years ago at a Willowcreek Conference and it really stuck with me. I was thrilled to see Dungy quote it on page 12. The hardest part about living it out is to realize that there are very few times when no human is looking and never a time God doesn't see your actions. The phrase should probably be rewritten that, "Integrity is who you are when you think no one is looking." Can you think of a time when you thought no one was watching you and later found out that they were? How did you find out someone was watching?

The book of Daniel is full of stories of integrity. From Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusing to bow to the statue of the king to Daniel praying no matter who was watching. What would you have to change in your life to live with that kind of integrity? As Tony Dungy said it is the "choice between what's convenient and what's right". Do the right thing?

Chapter 1 - Character

I remember my dad telling me once that it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a split second to destroy it. Well all of us have probably at sometime or another had one of those bad split seconds. Unfortunately we have had to learn the hard way about the amount of time that it takes to rebuild character and the trust that goes with it.

In chapter one Dungy makes a comparison between a couple of players that they were considering drafting. In the end much of the decision came down to character. In the fast paced world of the NFL it was refreshing to read that at least a few teams still consider character important. We have been bombarded over the last two decades with leaders who had no character.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that "Bad company corrupts good character!" I love Dungy's quote on page 5, "What you do is not as important as how you do it." So let's ask each other as men, "How you doin?"

He is right on target when he says that our character is determined by decisions we make in challenging times. What are the challenges on your plate right now? The decisions you make determine the kind of person you are. Make those tough decisions before the challenging times come and then you simply have to hold on to what you know is right!

So what are your thoughts about character?